Northouse, Leadership 9e
SAGE Publications, 2021
Case 5.3: Philosophies of Chinese
Leadership
Case Synopsis and Analysis
This case compares and contrasts the philosophical tenets of Confucianism and Daoism as
related to the Chinese culture and leadership in the workplace. While these two world views
are related in many ways there are stark contrasts as well. Both deal with similar constructs,
but in unique ways as outlined by the case:
Confucianism-based leaders, according to the case:
• socialize within the family unit in such a way as to promote sobriety, education, the
acquisition of skills, and seriousness about tasks, job, family, and obligations;
Daoism-based leaders, according to the case:
• exert minimal influence on the lives of followers;
• encourage followers to take ownership of tasks;
• employ “soft tactics,” such as persuasion, empowerment, modeling, teamwork,
Learning Objectives:
• Students should better understand the Hersey and Blanchard SLII model and how
it applies to leadership.
Northouse, Leadership 9e
SAGE Publications, 2021
Answers to Questions in the Text:
1. Where on the SLII® model would you generally classify a leader who strictly leans
toward Confucianism? Where would you classify a follower in an environment that
strictly adheres to the Confucianist philosophy? Explain your reasoning.
2. Where on the SLII® model would you generally classify a leader who models the
Daoist philosophy? Where would you classify a follower in an environment that
follows Daoist principles? Explain your reasoning.
For a leader who leans toward a Daoist philosophy, which deals more with overall
harmony and less with order, they would tend to reside more in the Supporting
In Fang Ruan’s TED Talk, she discusses companies that have achieved notable success as
they adopted more Daoist leadership philosophies. The following questions relate to those
companies:
1. Gāo Défú, the founder of Dumpling Xi, implemented the “two-hat model.”
a. Where would you place the two-hat approach on the leadership style grid of
the SLII® scale? Why?
Yes. This approach asserts balance and balance is key when using the SLII.
b. At what development level in the SLII® model would you place the five
front-line managers he selected? Based on the discussion of Confucianism and
Daoism in this case, what challenges do you think Gāo Défú faced both in his
role as the leader and in implementing this change with his front-line team?
2. Miranda Qu, the founder of Xiaohongshu, faced a similar but different challenge.
Northouse, Leadership 9e
SAGE Publications, 2021
a. Discuss Miranda Qu’s intentions for her company and the phenomenon she
noticed. What predicated her employees to behave in this manner?
b. Which of the two Chinese philosophies best support Miranda Qu’s unique
approach to addressing the problem?
c. Where is the solution she chose best represented on the leadership and
followership elements of the SLII® model?
3. Desiring to steer innovation, Ma Mingzhe, the founder of Ping An, found it difficult
to adopt Daoism-based philosophical changes due to the size and complexity of the
business.
a. How did the company address this challenge?
b. From the perspective of the SLII® model, how does an organization’s size
and complexity relate to the effectiveness of each of the leadership styles
represented in Figure 5.1?
c. What about the development levels of the followers? How does size and
complexity affect the needed directive behavior of leaders?
This aspect is impacted by the layers found in most organizations. The CEO
4. Which of these two philosophies most reflects your own? How does your own
philosophical perspective affect your expression of the four styles of leadership?
Student answers will vary. Some will articulate the need for order and others will
Potential Teaching Approaches:
This case study is conducive to group discussions and exercises.
Below is a way to structure a class based on the trait approach and Case Study 5.3:
Northouse, Leadership 9e
SAGE Publications, 2021
• Hold a lecture on situational approach.
Exercises for This Case Study:
1. As a group, discuss other philosophies related to Confucianism and Daoism by
creating a list. How do these other philosophical tenets connect to leadership and
the SLII® model? Are some of these other philosophies also deeply rooted in a
culture? Explain.
2. Discuss the fluidity of the SLII® model; how does one move and shift around
based on their leadership style?
3. In small groups, ask student to create three unique SLII® models with three
scenarios. Place a different follower into the model (e.g. sibling, co-worker,